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Review/Giveaway ~ Stir Me Up by Sabrina Elkins

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Title: Stir Me Up

Author: Sabrina Elkins

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Published: October 1st 2013

Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She'll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father's French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami's family while recovering from serious injuries. And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Julian's all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami's starting to feel. And Cami can't stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He's got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated….

Stir Me Up is a quick read that I read in a day. The author pulled me in quickly and I was swept away into the world of cuisine! This story is about two people trying to find a path in their lives, one of which is still in school and the other has lived through something that has changed him as a person.

Cami is still in school, but she spends a lot of time working at her father’s French restaurant. She loves to cook and has slowly worked her way up in the kitchen. When she is not working or at school she is spending time with her boyfriend, Luke. Cami's father asks her to accompany her step mother to visit her injured nephew, Julian, in hospital and soon Julian moves into their home so he has some support.

Cami is a stubborn girl and has always known what she wants. When Julian moves in everything is thrown off course and soon she is questioning some of the plans that she had for herself. She is a sweet girl who tries to avoid conflict, and she has a passion for food and cooking.

When I first met Julian, I thought he was a bit of a jerk, but it soon becomes obvious that he is lashing out at everyone around him due to the things he went through overseas. Cami, though, doesn't take his out bursts and often gives it back to him. I liked seeing the banter between them. They butted heads a lot in the beginning, but you can soon see the passion is building between them.

I thought Stir Me Up was sweet and emotional read. Julian has a lot of issues to work through and I enjoyed seeing Cami help him through them. When Julian makes a little pact with Cami about their future plans I had my fingers crossed for them to find a way together. They are a well suited pair and I was secretly hoping they would get their HEA. If you are looking for a fast, emotionally charged read in the world of cuisine, this is the one for you!!

I received a copy of this book from the Author in exchange for an honest review.

I am a former journalist who worked for the Los Angeles Daily Newsand other newspapers in the greater Los Angeles area. Prior to this I worked in advertising, writing ad copy for corporate travel accounts and major motion pictures. My first job out of college was as an administrative assistant to an executive chef and a food & beverage director at a Four Seasons hotel. I also spent some time working as a prep cook for Spago in Beverly Hills.

I received my Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California. While in graduate school, I had the privilege of studying fiction writing under renowned author Hubert Selby, Jr., and comedy writing under famed comedian Shelley Berman. I am a past participant of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Summer Writing Workshop.

Raised in the woods of Vermont, I now live in the greater Los Angeles area with my husband and three children. STIR ME UP is my first novel.

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11 comments:

Stir Me Up certainly sounds like a sweet story, Naomi. And is it bad that I'd actually read it only for the cooking parts? I love cooking - AND eating, and if there's some romance and conflicts sprinkled in there somewhere, I'll have a good few hourse in Cami and Julian's company.